The present invention relates, in general, to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to ferroelectric semiconductor devices.
Ferroelectric materials have been used to form electrical components such as non-volatile memories, capacitors, and optical guided wave devices. For example, in non-volatile semiconductor devices a ferroelectric material is deposited on a substrate oxide overlying a semiconductor substrate. Then, a gate material is deposited on the ferroelectric material. The gate material and the ferroelectric material are etched to form a gate structure. A drawback in the manufacture of these types of semiconductor devices is that formation of the gate structure causes defects along the edges of the gate structure. These defects degrade the ferroelectric properties of the ferroelectric material.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a ferroelectric device and a method for manufacturing the ferroelectric device that does not damage or degrade the ferroelectric properties of the ferroelectric material.